Made For Each Other
by roryjessfan02
Summary: Starts as a Narco, but quickly goes to Literati. Starts after Teach Me Tonight, Jess never left town.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I had this story up a while ago, but accidentally deleted it...

Takes place after "Teach Me Tonight", but Jess never left town.

"Ooh, ooh! I hear beeping! Time for popcorn!" Lorelai said enthusiastically, skipping into the kitchen, empty bowl in hand.

"You guys sure can make a bowl of popcorn disappear quick." Dean pointed out.

"It takes years of training, and many nights where we learned how much is too much." Laughing, Rory moved over to where Dean was standing.

Lorelai walked by them, saying that she couldn't find and M&M's to mix with the popcorn, so she had to go to Doose's. The door opened and shut, then there was an awkward silence between Rory and Dean.

"So, what did you do today?" Dean asked, curious of why she wasn't home when he came by earlier.

"Oh…I just…um, went to the bookstore then read the rest of the day…"

"By yourself? I could've went with you after my basketball game."

"It's ok. I know you don't like those kinds of things."

"It's better than thinking that you had to spend a beautiful Saturday all by yourself." Dean told Rory, trying to act like he would've had fun at a bookstore.

Rory squirmed, "I wasn't exactly by myself. I was with…Jess." she whispered the last word, knowing it would upset Dean, yet not knowing how to avoid telling him.

"Jess?! You spent the day with _him_, instead of me?!" Dean yelled, outraged.

"You were gone playing basketball with your friends all day!" Rory tried to make him understand.

"Not all day! I stopped by here at 3 to see if you wanted to come watch me play, but you weren't home!"

"Did you notice that it's still about basketball? That's all you do or talk about! Sports this, sports that! And what's so wrong about me hanging out with Jess? He's my _friend _and you don't have a say over who I'm friends with!" Rory screamed, getting angry about how self-centered Dean was.

"You know I don't like that guy, Rory. He's bad news. And he doesn't think of you as a friend. He's trying to manipulate you! Don't you see it? He _wants_ you, Rory!" Dean is now pacing back and forth between the living room and the kitchen, his face beet red from yelling.

"You don't know if any of that is true! We're friends, Dean, and he doesn't 'want me' as you say he does!"

"Have you seen the way he looks at you!? Wait, no, you don't because you're busy looking at him with those same puppy dog eyes! He's going to be the reason of our breakup if you keep being friends with him." Starting to calm down, Dean ends the conversation. "I can't handle this right now. We'll work it out tomorrow."

Rory agrees, and walks Dean towards the door. Just as they are a few feet away, someone knocks. Rory opens the door as they come upon it.

"Jess." Rory says, noting that this was the worst possible time for him to show up. As she's wondering why he's here, she sees the tool bag in his hand and remembers he was supposed to come fix the toaster.

"Unbelievable…unbelievable." Dean mutters, walking out the door. "Rory, we're over. Have him, see if I care."

Rory stares after Dean, then breaks down and starts crying. She leaves the door open while running off to her room. Jess watches her as he stands outside, unsure of whether to come in or not. He makes his decision and comes in. Shutting the door behind him, Jess makes his way to the kitchen. Jess sets his bag on the table and walks over to Rory's room. The door is partially open, and he can see Rory lying on her bed, her head in her hands. He supposes that she's crying, and his stony exterior softens as he shows a hint of concern. Jess covers that up quickly, and clearing his throat says, "Can I come in?"

Rory sits up and nods. When Jess enters she scoots over to make room for him next to her on the bed. He sits down, legs hanging over the edge of her small bed.

"What happened?" Jess asks, keeping sarcasm out of his voice, he's actually being sincere.

"Dean broke up with me." A few tears drip out of the corners of Rory's eyes as she tells him this. "He thinks that we want to be together. He gets so jealous over the littlest things."

"Huh." Jess tries to suppress a smirk, happy that he ticked Dean off. The smirk automatically stops forming as he realizes this means he is the cause of Rory's hurt. "I'm sorry." This was out before he remembered that it's not something "Jess-like" to say, and that Rory was going to tease him about it forever.

"Softie." Rory smiles through her tears. "Who ever knew you cared so much about my feelings?" Rory blushed when she noticed how that sentence sounded. "I…I didn't mean anything…it's just you never say things like that, and I was taking advantage of the situation, I didn't mean to imply that you would care about me…"

Jess smirked as Rory rambled on, which she always does when she gets embarrassed. She sees his smirk and blushes deeper. "What's so funny?" she pouted. "I just made an idiot of myself."

"And it was funny." Jess said, still smirking. She looked so cute when she tried to make him feel sorry for her. Jess hopped off the bed, saying he had to fix the toaster. Rory followed, and sat at the table to watch.

Lorelai walked in, apologizing while heading to the kitchen. "Sorry, I was on my way home from Doose's with the M&M's when I walked by Luke's and just _had _to stop for coffee. It was calling me 'Lorelai, Lorelai, come drink me…', and I couldn't ignore it." Lorelai stops, sees Jess and Rory at the table and looks around for Dean. She then notices Rory's red eyes, like she'd been crying. "What happened, honey?"

"Dean broke up with me." Taking note of Lorelai's surprised expression, she continues with more details. "He started yelling about me hanging out with Jess, and how Jess liked me, and then he decided to leave and we'd work it out tomorrow. Then as Dean was leaving, Jess showed up at the door to fix the toaster. So, Dean said it was over."

Lorelai pointed at Jess, "Bad timing."

"Luke sent me. It's technically his fault." Jess defended himself. He started cleaning up his tools, and moved the toaster back into it's proper spot.

"Done?" Lorelai asked. Jess nodded. "Good. Now go away, it's time for a girl talk."

"You're so polite." Jess said sarcastically as he walked out the back door.

Rory walked into the living room and sat on the couch. Lorelai copied her movement. "Okay, so let me get this straight - Dean broke up with you because you and Jess are friends and he thought you guys wanted more than that?"

"Correct."

"Is he right?" Lorelai wondered aloud, hoping it wouldn't upset Rory.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want Jess as more than a friend?"

"I'm not sure right now. I'm still trying to recover from Dean's blow-up. Can we talk about this later?"

"Of course, sweetie, I understand." Lorelai comforted Rory by putting her arm around her. "Let's just forget about everything for now and start our movie night."

A/N: So what did you think?


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I forgot this in the last chapter, so this goes throughout the entire story. I do not own anything. Don't sue!

The next morning, Rory awoken to a loud, deep sound coming from outside. She rolled over in her bed to glance at her clock.

"Five o'clock," Rory groaned, covering her head with the pillow to drown out the noise. It didn't work though, as the sound just got louder. Clumsily, Rory got out of bed and stumbled over to her window. She lifted her blinds and saw Kirk walking down the street, his face red from blowing a tuba with all his might.

After unsuccessfully trying to go back to sleep, Rory decided to get up. Walking into the kitchen, she noticed that there was already coffee made. That was odd, considering it was Sunday and Lorelai didn't have to work. Rory poured herself a large cup of coffee and made her way into the living room. Lorelai was there, watching TV.

"Hey babe," Lorelai welcomed her daughter, and patted the seat next to her on the couch.

Falling into the spot next to Lorelai, Rory asked her, "How long have you been up?"

"Too long," her mother replied, "our dog woke me up an hour ago."

"We don't have a dog…" Rory told Lorelai slowly, wondering if her mom was still half-asleep.

"Then how'd he wake me up?"

Rory looked at Lorelai questioningly and said, "You know what? I'm not even getting into this, it's too early."

"Ha! I won! You lost!" Lorelai chanted.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, watching TV. After a couple sips of coffee, Rory made a face. "Okay, I tried to ignore the fact that this coffee sucks, but I can't. We need to go to Luke's."

"I know, I was just waiting for you to get up because I was too lazy to go by myself."

"Luke is going to be very surprised to see us this early," Rory told her mom, smiling.

"It's gonna be fun!" Lorelai exclaimed, giggling. "Let's go!" 

Rory and Lorelai started out the door, when Rory looked down to put her shoes on. She noticed that they were still in their pajamas. "We should probably change first."

"Oh, you just stopped a very bad situation." Lorelai thanked her, while heading towards her room to change.

Rory went into her room and put her clothes on. She knew her mom would take much longer, so she sat on her bed to read a book. When she opened the book, she noticed it was one with Jess's notes in the margin. Rory smiled, reading his thoughts about the story.

Pretty soon, Rory's mind switched over to Dean. It still hurt, but she wasn't as hurt as she would've expected if you told her this was going to happen. Then again, she felt sort of relieved since all she and Dean have done lately is fight. Rory then began thinking about what her mom said. About her feelings for Jess. She still wasn't sure how she felt about him. And, if Jess only thought of her as a friend, she wasn't sure if she wanted her real feelings to surface. If there were real feelings. God, this was all too confusing! Time to go back to just reading. After a few seconds, Rory got up angrily and threw the book back down on her bed. "Stupid notes…" she mumbled, walking into the living room to watch TV.

Lorelai came downstairs a while later, and they left together. Once they entered the diner, Lorelai shouted, "Oh, Lukey-pooky, my lovely diner man, it's coffee time!"

Luke saw them and tapped his watch to make sure it was working correctly. He then looked outside, trying to see if it really was that early. "What the hell are you doing here, or even awake for that matter, at six thirty?!"

"You're open, so we can be here. And for your other question, I'm up because our dog woke me up."

"You don't have a dog," Luke protested.

"She thinks we do today, so just pretend we do," Rory looked around the diner, then back at Luke, "Your early crowd looks dead."

Kirk was laying on the corner table, his head on his arms. His tuba was sitting on the ground next to him. "Hurts to breathe…" he mumbled.

Lorelai and Rory walked over and each took a seat at the counter. Luke placed a cup in front of them and proceeded to fill them up.

"Wow, he didn't even hassle us that time," Lorelai looked at Rory, amazed.

Luke explains, "It's early, and I have a suspicion that you will kill me if I don't give you coffee."

"You know you did it because you love me," Lorelai teased him. Luke blushed shook his head at her, then walked away to take the tourists' orders.

"Aw, you made Luke blush. He's not the Tin Man," Rory laughed with her mom.

After they each had another cup of coffee, Jess came downstairs. He started going behind the counter, but stopped when he saw Rory. He was unsure of what to say, considering their last meeting. Luckily, Rory broke the ice. "Hey, Jess," she smiled.

"Hey," Jess answered, "coffee?"

"Do you have to ask?" Jess smirked, and refilled her cup. He then turned to Lorelai and gave her more coffee.

"This is the best day of my life. This is the second time today I got coffee without begging. And I am praising you because Luke isn't here." Lorelai got off her stool. She bowed down to Jess and said, "You are God."

Jess looked at her like she was crazy, then put the coffee pot back. He next went over to Rory and they began discussing books, as usual. Lorelai left once her coffee was done, saying they needed her at the inn. In the middle of Rory and Jess's debate, the bell sounded, signaling someone entering. They both ignored it.

"Like I was saying - Ayn Rand does have a way with words, but that's no excuse for her being -" Jess was interrupted by Dean walking up behind Rory and tapping her on the shoulder. Rory quickly turned around, surprised.

"Can we talk outside for a minute?" Dean asked her, ignoring Jess's 'death rays' he was sending him for cutting him off.

"Um, sure…" Rory agreed, with a small, hardly noticeable glance at Jess.

A/N: I don't really like this chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

Dean pulled Rory to the side of the diner, "I don't want people watching through the window, you know how rumors spread."

"Yeah, good idea," Rory mumbled. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I wanted to apologize for how I yelled at you. And I want you to know that I think it's okay if you want to be friends with Jess. It's your decision, I trust you. It's him I don't trust."

"Good, so we're friends?"

"No, no, you don't understand. We're back together! A couple! Isn't that great?!" Dean seemed thrilled with this idea, and was looking at Rory to see her reaction.

"No, Dean, we can't. It's not going to work. Our relationship is too unstable, all we do is fight. We don't have anything in common. We can be friends, but that's it."

"Rory, didn't you hear me? I said I'm taking you back!" Dean looked confused, like he didn't understand how Rory could not want to be with him.

"But I'm not taking you back! I don't want to!" Rory shivered, she didn't like yelling at him like this, but it bothered her that he thought she would just take him back like that. "I have to leave. If you want to talk about being friends, you know where to find me."

Rory turned on her heel and walked into the diner. "Luke, I need a coffee to go." She grabbed the cup and paid at the cash register. Going back out of the diner, she didn't notice Jess's gaze following her.

"Luke, I'm going out!" Jess called over his shoulder, deciding to follow Rory.

"Out where?" Luke yelled over the sound of the door slamming. He shook his head, knowing that question was never answered, and it was useless to ask.

Jess saw Rory sitting at 'their' bridge. He then saw her face and realized the conversation with Dean must not have went too well.

Rory was collecting her thoughts when she heard footsteps approaching. She knew who it was, only one other person visited this bridge. Jess. He came up beside her and sat down. They stayed like that for a couple minutes, in a comfortable silence. A silence that felt too good to break. Yet someone had to.

"What did bagb-," Jess stopped himself, "er- Dean, have to say?"

Rory let her frustration out. "He said that he was sorry and I could be friends with who ever I want, and he doesn't care because he trusts me. Which should be enough, but no, he still doesn't trust my friends. And he thought that if he just came up here and apologized, it would make everything better and we would get back together."

"Did you?" Jess ventured.

"No! I yelled at him because he thought I would just take him back. He thought that as long as he wanted to be with me, it would work. It doesn't though because I'm my own person, with my own wants and needs! And I don't want him!" Rory ranted, then realized she was screaming at Jess. She apologized, embarrassed, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell like that, it's just so…frustrating."

"I know, you just needed to let it all out, and I don't mind being the one taking the hits," Jess smirked when he said this.

Rory reached over and pulled him into a hug. "Thanks," she whispered.

They stayed hugging for a moment, then reluctantly released each other. Rory offered Jess to come over her house and read, to which he accepted. As Jess stood, he grabbed Rory's hand to help her up. They kept walking in silence, hand in hand, to her house. Jess followed Rory into her room.

"What book do you want to read?" Rory asked him, gesturing to her wide selection of books.

"Anything is fine with me. Just no Ayn Rand." Rory smiled at this, and handed him 'A Farewell to Arms', picking out 'Howl' for herself. They plopped on the couch in the living room, and began reading.

After about an hour of silent reading, Jess abruptly asked a question. "Why exactly did Dean think we wanted to be together?"

Blushing, Rory told him, "Because we hung out a lot, and we're good friends. He thought you were trying to steal me away from him to just use me."

"You know I wouldn't do that, right?"

"I know, I trust you." At this, Jess let out a sincere smile, one rarely seen.

"Good. Wanna go grab something to eat?" Jess put the book down and stood up, stretching his legs from sitting for so long. Rory nodded in agreement, and they started towards Luke's.

A/N: Short, I know. Sorry. My next chapter will be longer, I promise. Well, as you know, reviews make the world go round, so don't hesitate to push that little button and write a couple words to make me happy…


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I forgot to mention that it's summer in the story - no school.

Lorelai and Rory were at Luke's for breakfast, as usual. They were sitting in the corner booth, gulping their coffee and eating their usual breakfast foods.

"So, what is my lovely daughter planning on doing today?"

"I'm not sure. I think I'll just hang around the house reading or watching movies."

"You can have people come over if you want. Have a movie party!"

"I think I'd rather just spend a quiet day by myself, relaxing."

"Suit yourself." Lorelai's cell phone started ringing. She reached to answer it as Luke pointed at the 'No Cell Phones' sign, then at the door. When out the door, Lorelai answered her phone.

"Hello?"

"Lorelai?" She recognized the voice immediately.

"Yes…" moments go by, "did you call for a reason?"

"I think you should talk to Rory."

"Could you be any more vague?"

"Talk some sense into her about getting back together with me." Dean said, plainly.

"You're seriously that desperate that you're calling your ex-girlfriend's mom? Why don't you talk to Rory instead?"

"I did. Yesterday. I have to go. Just think about what I said and talk to her for me, please. She's making a big mistake." Dean hung up, and Lorelai put her cell phone back into her purse.

Opening the door to the diner, Lorelai shouted, "Luke we're leaving!" and motioned for Rory to come. On the walk home, Rory was told about the conversation between Lorelai and Dean.

Once in the privacy of their home, Lorelai questioned Rory, "What did Dean say to you yesterday?" Lorelai knew even before Rory told the story, that she would not try to change her mind. Whatever Rory decided to do, get back with Dean or not, Lorelai would support her.

Rory relayed the whole incident to her mother, including the part about how she spent the rest of the day with Jess.

"Honey, I think it's time for you to answer the question about your feelings for Jess." Lorelai calmly said to Rory.

Burying her face in a pillow, Rory mumbled, "I knew this was coming." Yet, she didn't answer right away, and Lorelai didn't push her. She knew it was important for Rory to give this some more thought before putting it out in the open. "I thought about this for a long time last night, after I got home. And I've realized that I do have feelings for Jess as more than a friend." Rory's face blushed more and more throughout her statement. "Are you okay with that?" Rory asked her mom.

Lorelai struggled for words, "Well…I'm not too thrilled with the idea, but I'll accept it. Has anything happened yet?"

"Nope. The only thing is that he held my hand on the walk from the bridge to the house." Lorelai started making kissing noises. "Stop!" Rory ordered her, but Lorelai saw the smile Rory was trying to contain.

Lorelai gasped, "You want to kiss Jess! Oh my god, you want to kiss Jess!"

"I never said that!" Rory defended herself.

"I saw the smile when I was making kissy noises!"

"There was no smile!" Rory claimed, getting up and walking into her room. Lorelai trailed her.

"Does he know you want to kiss him?"

"No, and he better not find out!" Rory threatened.

"Ha! You just admitted you want to kiss Jess!"

"Fine, I do want to kiss Jess! Happy?" Rory caved in.

"Very! Cause I was right!"

"Okay, good. Subject closed." Rory went back into the living room and flipped on the TV.

[4 hours later - Lunch time

"I'm starved, and I think I'm going to have a heart attack if I don't immediately drink coffee!" Lorelai was begging Luke for coffee as Rory took a seat at the same table as this morning. When Lorelai finally got back to the table with their coffees and food, ten minutes had already passed. "That's the longest Luke's ever held me from my coffee," Lorelai complained. Rory just laughed, and began eating her grilled cheese sandwich and fries.

They heard the curtain at the end of the stairs swish, and Lorelai looked over. "Hey, there's your kissable diner boy," she whispered to Rory, who immediately shushed her.

Jess sauntered over to their table, coffee pot in hand. Filling their cups to the brim, he asked, "Want anything else?"

With a gleam in her eyes, Lorelai opened her mouth to speak. Rory cut her off by saying, "Nope, we're good for now," and basically shooing Jess away.

"You have to ruin all my fun," Lorelai pouted.

"Well your fun was going to ruin my life, so it wasn't fair."

"Well does he like you, too?"

"I don't know…" Rory tailed off, thinking.

Just then Jess passed by and smiled at Rory when she looked at him.

"He _so _likes you!" Lorelai bragged. She looked down at her cell phone to see the time. "And I'm gonna miss whatever happens, because I gotta get to work. Promise to fill me in if anything happens?"

"Promise. And you know you sound like you're in junior high every time you mention him." Lorelai nodded and stuck her tongue out at Rory while leaving the diner.

Noticing that Lorelai was gone, Jess came and sat in the now-empty seat across from Rory. "Hey."

"Hi," Rory smiled. "What are you doing today?"

"Nothing special. My shift ends in an hour."

"Oh. Well, do you think you might want to hang out?" Rory asked quickly.

"Sure," Jess shrugged, "we could go upstairs and read, unless you had something planned?"

"Reading sounds good. I'll be back in a hour, okay?" Getting up, Rory gave him the money her mom left her to pay. "Keep the change, it's only like ten cents." She left the diner and went to her house.

Rory went into her room, and looked at her books. She then realized it would be stupid to bring her own book, when Jess had so many she could choose from. So, instead, Rory took a shower, then headed back to Luke's.

Seeing Rory from a distance, Jess told Luke, "It's my break time. When Rory comes in tell her I'm upstairs." With that the climbed the stairs, offering no explanation for why Rory was coming upstairs.

"Hey, Luke," Rory greeted him. "Where's Jess?"

"Upstairs. He said for me to tell you to go up there."

"Okay, thanks." Rory nervously went behind the curtain and up the stairs. She hasn't been up there in years. When she came to the door, she got very nervous, not knowing whether to knock or just walk in, since he was expecting her. Rory chose to knock.

"It's open." Jess called from inside the room. Rory slowly entered, unsure of her actions. She didn't know why she was this nervous. It's not different from any other day, she always hangs out with Jess.

"Hey," she said, Jess was sitting on the couch reading a book, she couldn't see the title of it.

"Need a book?" he asked, noticing she didn't bring one. "They're on that shelf." Jess pointed to the right of him. Rory examined the novels, and chose a Hemingway, to Jess's surprise.

"I told you I'd give him another chance," she explained. Rory then moved over to the couch and sat on the opposite side of Jess. They both read, and Rory was beginning to get into the story, even though it was hard to understand. An hour and a half later Jess shut his book.

"Done. You still wanna read, or do something else?" Jess asked her.

"Depends on what the 'something else' is." Rory smiled.

"TV, movie, walk around exciting Star's Hollow, whatever."

"Let's go with the walk." Rory put the book back on the shelf, and slipped her shoes on. She then trailed Jess out of the diner.

A/N: Well, did you like it? In my opinion, it was better than the last chapter. Pretty, pretty, please review! It makes me very happy!


	5. Chapter 5

Rory and Jess were only walking a few minutes, when Rory's cell phone rang. She looked at the caller ID, which read "Mom".

"Hello?" Rory answered, flipping her phone open.

"Hi honey," her mom's voice came through the phone, "we're gonna have a movie night tonight. Come home in a half hour, and we'll go get the candy and movies."

"We just had a movie night a couple days ago," Rory pointed out.

"Never complain of too many movie nights! It's against the rules of movie-watching!"

"Sorry, I forgot. Movies are good, there is no such thing as too many movies," Rory repeated like a robot.

"My point exactly. So, what're you doing?"

"Just hanging out with Jess."

"Ooh!" Lorelai began making the kissing noises again.

"You're a three-year-old. Goodbye, I'll see you soon." Rory shut her phone and slipped it back into her pocket.

Rory continued strolling side-by-side with Jess. As they were walking by Doose's, they were laughing and enjoying each other's company. Dean popped out of the door. Seeing Jess with Rory, he promptly turned around and walked back into the market, slamming the door behind him.

"You guys still in a sore spot?" Jess questioned the obvious.

"He called my mom to get her to talk me into getting back together with him," Rory sighed.

"Pathetic," Jess laughed. Then he got more serious. "Are you ever going to get back together with him?"

"No. Our relationship didn't work. We had nothing in common, and couldn't hold an intelligent conversation for more than five minutes." Jess felt relief when she told him this. He knew they weren't right for each other.

"Why did you stay with him for so long then?"

"He was my first boyfriend, first love, first everything. It was special and I didn't want to ruin that. Plus, I haven't had experience in breaking up with guys, so I didn't know how to do it without hurting him. I didn't want to hurt him after how good he was to me," Rory explained.

"You've only had one boyfriend?" Jess asked, he would've never thought that, considering her great looks and personality.

"Yes," Rory whispered, making voice barely audible since she was embarrassed. Then, a little louder, she inquired, "How many girlfriends have you had?".

"I've only had two actual girlfriends," Jess admitted.

"What do you mean, 'actual girlfriends'?" Rory looked into his eyes, trying to figure out what he was saying.

"Well, I've hooked up with some girls at parties…nothing I'm too proud of," Jess confided in her. She understand what he meant now.

"Oh…" she stuttered. Rory always knew he was more experienced than her, but that didn't make the situation any less awkward.

They sat in silence until Rory made an offer. "I have to get home now, we're having a movie night. But…you could come if you want to?" She looked at him, trying to hide the hope in her eyes.

"Sure, it's either that or working at Luke's." Jess smirked, inside he was happy she invited him.

Changing directions, they now headed towards Rory's house. Reaching the house, Rory opened the door and they stepped inside. In the background you can hear Lorelai beginning to come down the stairs. Lorelai knew it was Rory, because she's the only one who walks in without knocking.

Lorelai decided to tease Rory, since she'd been out all day with Jess. "So, is Jess a good kisser?" she started giggling, and finished going downstairs. Lorelai then saw Rory and Jess standing by the door with surprised expressions. "Oh. Um…wow…I guess I'll go get the stuff, you guys can stay and talk - or whatever…" flustered, Lorelai made a quick escape out the door.

Rory rushed into the living room and sat on the couch. She leaned over and put her head in her hands, while her face was a very deep red. Jess walked over to her with a smirk, amused, and plopped down next to Rory. "So, what was that about?"

"Nothing," Rory tried to dismiss the subject fast. Jess was still smirking, he found this whole situation pretty funny. "How about we just forget that ever happened?" Rory suggested, her voice begging him.

"Not gonna happen. I have a better idea, anyways." Jess was staring at Rory, and she finally sat up and looked him in the eyes, curious.

"And what would that be?"

"Let's find out the answer to your mom's question." Jess felt nervous as he said this, he didn't know how Rory would respond. She still had a look of confusion on her face, and Jess once again smirked. He loved when her innocence showed through like this.

When Rory saw Jess's smirk, she finally realized what he was getting at. Her stomach immediately flip-flopped. Rory began blushing lightly, nervous.

"You mean for us to - kiss?" Rory had to make sure this was what he was talking about, that she wasn't wrong. Jess noticed Rory's nervous look, and wanted her to know that this was up to her, he wasn't going to force her into anything.

"Yeah, but only if you want to. It's completely up to you, no pressure," Jess told her truthfully. With a small smile, Rory nodded.

Jess leaned in and Rory met him halfway. The instant their lips touched, both felt a tingle run down their spine. Jess moved his hands to cup Rory's face, as her hands rested on his knees. She then moved her hands to his shoulders, pulling him slightly closer. Breaking apart, Rory's eyes glistened, and Jess showed a sincere smile.

Lorelai entered the house just that instant, and found them sitting on the couch. Looking at the goofy expressions on their faces, she knew something was up. "Did you do something dirty?" Lorelai accused them. Neither of them said a word. "You did!"

Silence.

"Okay, since you guys aren't talking, I will. The video store was closed, so no movies. I met Lane on the way back, and she wants you to meet her at her house. So take Jess home, and go over there." Lorelai walked upstairs, without waiting for a reply.

"Let's go," Jess said, standing. He put his hand out to Rory, helping her off the couch, since she still had a dazed look on her face. They then walked to Luke's, it was their second time holding hands.

Suddenly, Rory realized she needed to ask an awkward question. "Um, Jess, are we a -" she was cut off by Jess's lips on hers. Another simple kiss, that made Rory shiver. She didn't understand how he did that to her. "I'll take that as a 'yes'," Rory smiled.

"Good night," Jess said, opening the diner door. Rory turned around, and headed for Lane's.

Entering Mrs. Kim's Antiques store, Rory saw Lane hurry downstairs with a finger on her lips. She then pointed upstairs. Rory tiptoed to the stairs, and followed Lane to her room.

"Why'd we have to be quiet?" Rory asked, when in the safety of Lane's bedroom.

"Mama has a customer, and she'll throw you out if you disturb them. But, anyways, fill me in on all the gossip! I've been gone for a week at bible camp, something had to have happened."

Rory filled her in on everything that went on, not forgetting one little detail of the week. They talked for a good hour, then Mrs. Kim interrupted them. "Lane! Come down here now! Rory must leave, I need your help!" she barked from downstairs.

Rory and Lane said their goodbyes, then Rory made her way to her house, planning on filling her mom in on everything.

"I'm home!" Rory shouted into the house.

"Just you?" Lorelai asked, making sure there were no unexpected visitors.

"Yeah," she laughed, walking into the kitchen. Her mom was in there, sipping on a cup of coffee. Rory poured herself a cup, then sat next to Lorelai at the table.

"So, what did I walk in on earlier?" Lorelai was eager to know.

"We kissed," Rory said trying to act nonchalant about it. She failed miserably, because she smiled a few seconds later.

"Cool," Lorelai agreed, pretending to support the situation.

"And we are together now," Rory told her.

"Okay. Just be careful." Lorelai warned her daughter.

"I will, you know that."

"I was just refreshing your memory…" Lorelai smiled, happy that Rory was so excited about this. Yet, deep inside of her, she was worried. Jess reminded her of the seventeen year old version of Christopher. She didn't want the same thing to happen to Rory that happened to her. But Rory is a smart, responsible girl and Lorelai trusted her. All she had to do was keep telling herself that, and she'd feel a little better. Now she just had to learn how to trust Jess.

"But, anyways, do you want pizza for dinner?" Lorelai changed the subject.

"You know you're going to have to face Jess eventually, right?" Rory knew this was the only reason Lorelai didn't want to have dinner there like they usually did.

"I know! I just feel like pizza," she claimed.

"Fine, I'll order." Grabbing the phone off the table, Rory walked into the living room. After placing the order, Rory took the phone into room and shut the door behind her. Dialing a familiar number, she fell back onto her bed.

"Luke's," a gruff voice answered.

"Hey Luke, it's Rory. Can I talk to Jess?" she requested politely.

"Yeah, hold on," Luke put his hand over the mouthpiece, "Jess! Phone! It's Rory!" he yelled towards the stairs.

Putting the phone back up to his ear, he heard Jess's voice, and realized he picked up the upstairs extension. Looking around the diner, Luke immediately knew he made a mistake. All the townspeople were whispering.

"It's nothing! They're friends, they can call each other!" Luke defended Rory and Jess. He still knew nothing of their relationship. Of course, everyone ignored Luke and kept gossiping.

"Can you meet me at the bridge tonight? I have something I want to give you."

"Sure," Jess agreed to Rory's request, "when?"

"Nine?" she offered.

"Okay, see you then."

"Bye." Rory and Jess hung up their phones simultaneously.

Jess grabbed two books off his bed, and took off downstairs. As soon as he appeared out of the curtain, the diner fell completely silent.

"They think you're with Rory, since she called," Luke explained.

"Huh," was Jess's standard response.

"Tell them you're not," Luke demanded.

"Why? I don't care what they say. Let them think whatever they want." With that, Jess stepped out of the diner.

Luke threw up his hands in defeat, then wiped down the counter as whispers continued.

Almost three hours later, Rory showed up at the bridge. She noticed Jess was already there, reading.

"Hey," she greeted him.

"Hey," Jess said, setting his book down.

Rory came over and sat next to him, interlacing their fingers.

"What's in the bag?" Jess was eyeing the plastic bag by Rory's side.

"Your present," she handed it to him, "here, open it."

Opening the bag, Jess found a second edition copy of 'Oliver Twist' by Charles Dickens. On the inside cover, it read 'to my Dodger' in Rory's handwriting.

Smiling, Jess gave Rory a kiss, "Thanks." Then he pulled a book out from underneath the one he was reading. "Here, I, uh, thought you might like this," he grumbled, he wasn't good at giving presents.

When Rory saw what it was, she smiled brightly and threw her arms around Jess. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed. Jess smiled, too, from Rory's giddiness. It was a copy of 'The Fountainhead' with all Jess's notes in the margin. He actually read it, and took the time to write his thoughts in it, for her, even though he hated Ayn Rand. "I love it!" Rory told him, as if he didn't notice.

Each flipping through their book, they looked up and smiled at each other contentedly. Without them seeing, Dean was watching this interaction as he was strolling through the town. With a mix of anger and sadness upon his face, he kept walking by, sneaking glances back every so often.


	6. Chapter 6

The diner was already completely filled when the Gilmores got there. Every single seat was taken. They overheard that it was a school trip, en route to Hartford.

"Uh…Luke? Where do we sit?" Lorelai questioned.

"Just go home. After everyone here orders and gets their food, I'll send Jess over with breakfast," he grumbled, busy taking orders.

"Yay! Delivery!" Lorelai squealed, her and Rory going back out the door.

"Once home, Rory began reading the book Jess gave her, as Lorelai flipped on the television. Twenty minutes later, the doorbell sounded.

"You get it," Lorelai nudged Rory with her foot.

"You're closer," Rory argued.

"It's your boyfriend."

"It's your door."

Hearing all this outside, Jess smirked and turned the doorknob. Letting himself inside, he set the large bag of food on the living room table.

"That sure solved our problem," Lorelai pointed out.

"Yeah, well I heard the whole conversation through the door and figured if I didn't let myself in, I'd be out there for a while." Jess said, shrugging.

"That's the longest sentence I've ever heard you say!" Lorelai feigned a look of surprise on her face. Smiling, Rory playfully hit her mom on the arm.

Getting off the couch, Rory greeted Jess with a kiss, "Hey." Examining the table, she added, "You brought a lot of food. Care to join us?"

"I don't know…Remember the last time we were in a situation like this? It didn't turn out too well…" Jess smirked, teasing Rory, "Are you sure Dean isn't going to pop up?"

"Who cares?" Rory said, kissing Jess again, "You're mine now, it doesn't matter what he says."

"Stop being so mushy!" Lorelai complained, closing her eyes and covering her ears.

Laughing, Rory and Jess joined Lorelai on the couch and helped themselves to breakfast.

A little bit later, Rory left to Doose's. She asked Jess to come with her, but he declined, saying he was going to stay to help clean up. After clearing the table, Jess turned to Lorelai. "I was planning on taking Rory to a bookstore in New York today. Is that ok?"

Lorelai began chuckling, "You're actually _asking_ me?"

"Well, it was either ask beforehand, or have Rory tell you when we get back. And if I chose the second part, I would be afraid of getting killed because I took your daughter to a different state without your permission."

"Good choice then. And, you know, you're really good at this whole 'sentences' thing. You should do it more often." Lorelai advised him.

"It comes and goes."

Just then, Rory walked in with a bag overflowing with sweets. "We'll be set for candy for the rest of the week," Rory stated, setting the bag down on the now-clear table.

"I should go. Luke's probably going to fire me for staying out this long." Jess kissed Rory and went to the door. Before leaving, he noticed Rory's back was to him. He took this opportunity to turn to Lorelai and put a finger to his lips. She nodded, understanding he meant for her to keep the trip a secret. Jess left, and Rory and Lorelai dug into the bag.

Two hours later, Jess once again rang the doorbell at the Gilmore house.

"I'll get it!" Rory jumped off her bed and raced for the door. She had seen Jess approaching in his car.

"I didn't know you were coming over," Rory told Jess with a smile when she opened the door.

"I'm sorry, want me to leave?" Jess asked sarcastically, smirking. Rory shook her head. Jess continued, "Good. Then let's go." Jess began going to his car when Rory stopped him.

"Wait, go where?"

"It's a secret," he said mysteriously, "and don't worry, I already talked to your mom and she's ok with it."

Rory took his word and followed him to his car. Jess proceeded to open the passenger side door for her, and shut it gently when she slid in. Getting in the driver's side, Jess started the car and they drove out of Stars Hollow.

"How long is it going to take us to get there?" Rory slyly tried to pry information out of Jess.

Jess caught on, and only gave away, "More than five minutes, and less than five hours."

"Am I going to like it?"

"No, I'm taking you somewhere you'll absolutely hate," Jess said in a sarcastic voice. Then his tone was sincere, "I think you'll like it. I do."

They rode in silence for a long time, listening to the radio. All of the sudden, it began raining, then storming. Lightning flashed across the sky, and thunder boomed.

"Shit," Jess cursed under his breath.

He kept trying to flip his wipers on, but they wouldn't budge. He pulled into a gas station and stepped out of the car. Jess messed around with the wiper blades for a couple of minutes, then half-way reentered the car to grab a tool from the backseat. Before leaving the car, he turned the engine off. Leaving the car, Jess worked under the hood. With a disgruntled look on his face, he shut the hood and got in the car.

"What's wrong with it?" Rory wondered aloud, facing Jess.

"The wipers wouldn't work. But I tightened some things, and now they should work fine and we'll be on our way again." Jess assured her. Turning the key, the engine made a sputtering noise. It had the same result for several more attempts.

"Great, now the car won't even start!" Jess yelled with sarcasm.

Rory tried to calm him down, "It's ok Jess, look there's a hotel right across the street. We'll stay there until mom or Luke can pick us up."

Anger fading away, the famous 'Jess Mariano smirk' appeared once again. "You know you just offered to stay in a hotel with me, right?" Jess asked suggestively, raising one of his eyebrow.

Rory's face blushed a deep red, "Jess!", as he just laughed.

"I'm kidding! Unless…" he trailed off, looking at Rory with amusement dancing in his eyes. He loved teasing her like this.

"Jess…" she warned him as her face blushed deeper yet. "Let's just go before it starts raining harder." Rory looked out the window and added, "If that's possible."

They both jumped out of the car, and Rory ran around the side of the car to Jess. They joined hands and quickly walked to the curb. Waiting for traffic to clear, Rory and Jess had to stand in the rain. Then their opportunity came to cross, and they arrived down the block from the hotel. Jogging down the street, they entered the hotel lobby.

"I'm soaked," Rory complained, looking down at herself.

"You're beautiful," Jess said, sincerity evident in his words. He quickly turned away, realizing he let his wall down and his real emotions out. The truth just slipped, even though it felt good to say.

A light blush covered Rory's cheeks as she smiled. "T-thanks," she managed to stutter. What he said caught her off-guard, it wasn't something she would have expected him to say. Pulling out her cell phone, Rory explained, "I should call my mom and let her know what happened."

"Good idea."

Rory dialed her mom's cell phone number.

"Hello?" Lorelai answered.

"Hey mom."

"Hello, my lovely daughter. How's your day going?"

"Actually, Jess and I are in a hotel right now," Rory started.

"Oh, I am _so_ going to kill him!"

"Mom, Jess's car broke down, it's raining, and we're sitting in the lobby."

"Were you trying to give Mommy a heart attack? You needed to say all that _before_ you told me you were at a hotel with Jess!"

"Sorry. But anyways, can you come pick us up?"

"Where are you?"

"Umm…hold on, I'll hand you to Jess because I have no idea. Bye!"

"Bye honey," Lorelai said.

Rory passed the phone to Jess, and he told Lorelai where they were.

"She'll be here in two hours," Jess transferred the message to Rory, as he hung up. "I'm gonna go get some towels from the front desk."

Rory took the time while Jess was gone to think about him. He acted so different around her than he does around everyone else. It was obvious, yet Rory never really gave it much thought. She just knew she liked Jess's attitude better when it was just them two. A second later, Jess showed up with two towels.

"Here," he handed her a towel, "we should dry off our clothes, then lay them on the couch so we don't ruin it."

Smiling, Rory teased him, "Since when does Jess care about ruining something?"

"I don't. I just don't want you getting into trouble," Jess defended himself.

After they had dried themselves the best they could, Jess laid the towels out on the couch. He took a seat at the end of the couch, and Rory sat next to him, placing her head on his shoulder.

"Why do you act different around me?" asks Rory, softly.

"What do you mean?" Jess knew what she was talking about, but wanted to hear what she was thinking.

"Around me you're nice, sweet and caring," Jess smiled at these compliments, "but around everyone else you seem like you have a shield up. Like you don't care about anything or anyone."

"I care about you," Jess kissed the top of Rory's head, "and I just don't trust people I don't know well. It's something you learn when you grow up in New York.," Jess admitted.

"Okay." Rory was satisfied with this answer.

There was a moment of silence before Jess bravely asked a question that he's been wondering. "When did you start liking me?"

Rory smiled, thinking back. "When you bought my basket."

Shivering, Rory curled up into a ball. Jess slipped his jacket off and set it on top of Rory. "Thanks," she whispered.

Then Rory had an idea. "Do you have a book with you?"

"Always do," replied Jess.

"Will you read to me?" Rory asked shyly.

"Sure." Jess took the book out of his back pocket and began reading quietly to her. An hour later, he looked down and realized she was sleeping. He didn't want to wake her, but felt the urge to say something. So very, very, softly, he whispered, "I love you, Rory."

Much to his surprise, Rory sleepily whispered, "I love you too, Jess."

He hadn't meant for Rory to hear his confession. But it made him feel good knowing she felt the same way, even though she was half-asleep and probably wouldn't remember it. Jess would eventually tell her that was the first time he ever told someone he loves them.

Half an hour later, Lorelai entered the hotel. Looking around the lobby, she spotted Rory and Jess. Jess was sitting there reading, as Rory was lying with her head on his shoulder, sleeping. One of Jess's arms was around Rory, and his leather jacket was covering her. They looked so cute that Lorelai almost didn't want to disturb them. It was then that Lorelai saw a glimpse of the Jess that Rory knew. He looked protective, and like he truly cared about her.

Lorelai walked over to Jess and tapped his book. Seeing Lorelai, he closed the novel and set it on the table next to him.

"How long has she been asleep?" Lorelai asked Jess in a hushed tone.

"Only a little more than a half hour," Jess replied in the same tone.

Lorelai gently woke Rory and helped her off the couch. "Luke's truck is parked right out front, but you might want to cover your heads because it's still raining," Lorelai explained to them.

"Here's your jacket back, then." Rory tried to hand the jacket to Jess, but he declined.

"I don't want you getting sick."

"Aww, you're such a sweet boyfriend," Lorelai mocked Jess.

"Don't spread it around."

All three of them exited the hotel and rushed to the truck, so they wouldn't get soaked. Lorelai jumped in the front seat, as Rory and Jess climbed in the back.

"Luke actually let you take his truck?" Rory asked, surprised.

"I'm eating salads for a week, but yes," Lorelai admitted. She then turned on the radio and began loudly singing along.

Suddenly, realization hit Rory and she turned to Jess. "You said you loved me."

"Yeah, I did."

"Did you mean it?"

"Yeah," he said truthfully.

"Say it again," Rory demanded, with a smile.

After a moments hesitation, Jess told her, "I love you, Rory." He had paused before saying it because it was still a little awkward to say, especially with Lorelai right there.

"I love you, too." Rory beamed, as she moved in to kiss Jess.

Lorelai picked this instant to turn around. "Ah! God, warn me before you do that!" She turned back around swiftly.

Rory and Jess reluctantly pulled away from each other. "Sorry, mom," Rory apologized sheepishly.

"I turn around and 'BAM!' there you guys are, sucking face!" Lorelai complained. "And I'm telling Luke you guys were kissing in his truck!"

"I don't think he even knows we're together." Jess pointed out.

"That just added a whole new twist," Lorelai said, with an evil grin.

Driving into Stars Hollow, Lorelai parked the truck in front of Luke's. It wasn't raining anymore, but Rory was still wearing Jess's jacket as they entered the diner.

Lorelai skipped up to Luke, who was at the counter. The diner was empty, besides a few tourists. Lorelai then tattled, "Rory and Jess were making out in your truck!"

"Ha, ha, very funny," Luke replied in a monotone voice.

"I'm serious! I turn around and there they are, tongue-wrestling!"

"Jess! Come over here!" Luke instructed him.

"I'm here." Jess said blandly, appearing at counter with Rory.

"Is this true?" he asked in a bored voice, still not believing Lorelai.

"I've never heard of 'tongue-wrestling', so I couldn't tell you."

"Jess…" Luke warned him, "I'm being serious."

"So am I. I _seriously _have never heard of 'tongue-wrestling'," Jess was smirking, he enjoyed annoying Luke. "But we _may have_ done this thing called 'kissing' in your truck," Jess finished.

"What about Dean?!" Luke questioned, angry and confused at this new situation.

"They broke up," Lorelai told him in a 'duh' voice. She then continued to answer all his questions. After this, Lorelai and Rory left.

"Upstairs, now!" Luke yelled to Jess. Over his shoulder, he called, "Watch the diner Caesar!"

"What?" Jess asked, impatiently, once they arrived upstairs.

"You hurt Rory and you will not live to see another day!" Luke threatened him. "And you better not force her to do anything she doesn't want to! You will have all eyes in the town on you now that you're dating Rory, and if you screw it up, everyone will blame you!"

"Because they don't blame me for anything now, do they?" Jess's words were laced with sarcasm.

"Jess! Be serious for once in your life! Is there a chance or you hurting Rory?"

"No. I care about her." Jess answered him, seriously, like he was told to.

"Good." Not knowing what else to say, Luke went back down to the diner.

[Cut to outside diner

Jess was about to go back inside the diner when he heard a voice behind him say, "You know she's going to come to her senses and dump you, right?"

Jess turned around to see no other that Dean himself standing there. He walked up to meet him.

"And you know this, how?" Jess asked, confidently.

"Because I'm better for her and everyone knows it. Pretty soon she'll realize what a worthless loser you are and come back to me."

As soon as Dean finished his sentence, Jess punched him square in the jaw. They were on the ground fighting when Rory appeared.

"What are you guys doing?! Jess, Dean, stop!" she screamed.

Jess jumped up from on top of Dean. He backed away, going to Rory.

"Chicken?" Dean taunted him.

"I'm not fighting in front of Rory." Jess said, angrily.

"Fine. We'll finish this later." Dean turned to Rory, "Want to hang out tomorrow?"

"I'm busy," was Rory's quick excuse.

"Whatever. You'll realize who's better for you soon enough." Dean stated, sauntering away from the scene.

"What was that all about?" Rory asked, upset.

Jess explained, and Rory comforted him by saying, "He's wrong. I'm not going back to him. You're perfect for me." With that, Rory put her hands on Jess's shoulders and pulled him closer. Their lips met in a passionate kiss, and Rory played with Jess's dark curls on the back of his head. Jess's hand rested softly on Rory's hips, gently pulling her as close to him as they could possibly get. They stayed kissing like that for a moment, until Rory pulled away, saying she had to get home.

At home, Rory joined Lorelai on the couch. "Jess and Dean got in a fight," she informed her mom.

"Who started it?" Lorelai asked, even though she was pretty sure Jess did.

"Dean verbally started it, Jess started the actual fight." She explained further, giving her mom all the details she knew.

"You really think Jess is better for you than Dean?" Lorelai asked curiously, not a bit sarcastic.

"I do. We have a lot more in common, and even though you don't believe it, there's a side to Jess you don't know. A sweet, caring side."

"If you think he's worth it, then I'll take your word. Plus, he must have some good in him if he's managed to make you fall for him." Lorelai and Rory shared a smile, "And I'm happy for you. Just worried."

"There's nothing to worry about mom. He cares about me, and would never hurt me." Rory assured her mom.

"Okay, honey. Goodnight." Lorelai and Rory hugged, then went their separate ways to their bedrooms.

Once in her room, Rory noticed she still had Jess's jacket on. Smiling, she kept it on as she curled up in bed.

A/N: This is not going to be a 'Dean's a stalker' story. He just wants Rory back right now. Sorry if you thought Jess was OOC in some parts. By the way, do you guys still want me to continue this, even though I really don't know where I'm going with it?


End file.
